Held at Walford Village Hall
Wednesday 26 February 2020 at 6.30pm
Present:
Councillors: Karen Chinn (Chair), Joanne Akers, Simeon Cole, Bob Puzey and Monica van Lienden
In attendance: Richard Abolins (Clerk), 3 members of the public
1. Apologies for absence: – Councillor Ruth Dolman
2. Declarations of interest and written requests for dispensation: – none.
3. Adoption of Minutes of previous meeting: – It was resolved to adopt the minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2020 as a true and accurate record. They were signed by the Chair.
4. Public participation session: –
A member of the public asked whether there was a budget for the canoe launch. There was and this would be discussed in item 7 below. She also asked whether the precept would be raised by 5%. Again, this will be discussed, but the precept was yet to be approved.
Another member of the public expressed concern that the absence of an RFO may impact upon NDP grant applications. The Chair said that this will be considered when discussing the RFO in item 9.
5. Financial information: –
5.1 The Income and Expenditure account for January was received. There were no questions
5.2 All members had received the bank statements and reconciliation before the meeting and Cllr Akers signed the bank reconciliation as being accurate.
5.3 It was agreed that the Financial Regulations should not be changed from mandating the production of quarterly statements, but the expectation for the next RFO would be to continue reporting monthly.
6. Payments: –
6.1 It was resolved to approve the payments on Appendix 3.
6.2 It was resolved to ratify the payments on Appendix 3.
7. Draft budget for 2020/21: –
7.1 The final draft budget including a 5% increase in precept in order to minimise the predicted deficit was received and no question were asked.
7.2 It had been determined that the Smartwater scheme would be available in 2020/21. There were still practical questions to be answered and the Safety Working Group will be looking into this. The Committee felt that the maximum liability for the project should be included in the budget but given the healthy state of the reserves, the precept should not be increased further to cover the associated costs.
7.3 It was resolved to add £4,000 in respect of the Smartwater project to the budget and to recommend this amendment to the Full Council.
7.4 It was resolved to recommend that the Council approve an increase in precept of 5% – £1,325.
8. Banking arrangements: – considering the RFO’s impending retirement, he had not progressed this matter and it was agreed to postpone it until the appointment of his successor.
9. Responsible Financial Officer: – the Chair had raised this issue now rather than leave the possibility of a lack of RFO until the last minute. Although HALC could probably provide cover at a cost, it was possible that an interim RFO may be appointed from within the Council or the parish. Options will be considered, but Dave Berry offered to step in with his extensive knowledge of the Council and his understanding of the RFO’s current system. The RFO was asked to ensure that the contact details for NDP grants were updated to add Chris Barron, the NDP financial controller. Action – Clerk
10. Risk management: -There was no change to the risk management schedule. Due to the recent impact of the heavy flooding, it was agreed that input from the SWG and the resilience officer should be sought to regarding updates to the risk register ready for the next meeting. Action Clerk
11. Items for next meeting agenda: –
11.1 RFO update
12. Next meeting: – Wednesday 18 March 2020 at 6.30pm in Walford Village Hall meeting room.
The meeting closed at 19:22
SIGNED K Chinn DATE 18 March 2020